In addition to Carlotta Street and Death Valley, LSU students have the chance to spend their Halloween in New Orleans’ City Park with 100,000 Voodoo Fest goers. The Voodoo Music Experience will once again fall on Halloween this year, as Steve Rehage, former LSU safety and founder of the Voodoo Experience, has booked the festival’s 11th edition for Oct. 30, 31 and Nov. 1.”There’s about three cities that have a certain appeal on Halloween — New Orleans, New York and San Francisco,” Rehage said. “We wanted to move [Voodoo] back to Halloween … there’s a certain appeal to tourists.”Voodoo began in 1999 as a one-day concert that drew roughly 8,000 fans and has since spawned into a three-day, six-stage event, attended by more than 100,000 fans in 2007.”It’s been amazing,” Rehage said. “We’ve had our ups and downs. We had to rebuild the whole thing after Hurricane Katrina. It’s been an interesting experience to say the least.”The festival’s 11th edition allows for a true return to its Halloween roots, as this year marks only the second time it has fallen on the actual date of Halloween.This year’s lineup features Kiss, Eminem, Jane’s Addiction, the Flaming Lips and many others. Widespread Panic — who are famous for their Halloween concerts in New Orleans — will also be featured as a main attraction.”About six or seven festivals have popped up since Voodoo started — Bonnaroo, Coachella — they call it the festival circuit, and they all have a lot of the same bands,” Rehage said. “The idea this year was to go out of the box, so it’s a bit of an off-kilter lineup.”Rehage said uniting with Widespread Panic on Halloween is a goal he’d been trying to accomplish since 1999.Some students feel the choices of top acts could keep them from attending.”I don’t really know any of their songs, I just know who they are,” said Jamal James, communication studies senior. “It doesn’t make me feel like ‘Oh my god I have to go.'”Others are more optimistic.”It’s a badass lineup,” said Shaun Vicknair, construction management senior. “I have not made it to Voodoo yet, but it’s a high possibility this’ll be my first trip … If you go in with an open mind you’re going to enjoy it.”A large factor in determining student attendance, regardless of the lineup, is football.”It’s a big deal not just for the students, but all of south Louisiana,” Rehage said. “I’d just assume have it on an LSU off week whenever possible.”Voodoo fell on LSU bye weeks in 2006 and 2007, but has often occurred on the same weekend as a home football game, like last season when Georgia came to town during Voodoo.Voodoo’s growth as a national spectacle can be evidenced around the South, as schools from outside Louisiana are concerned with losing fans to the festival.”I’ve even had the president at the University of Alabama call and check our dates,” he said. “They scheduled their homecoming on the same day as the festival, and they didn’t sell any tickets. Everyone was here.”Music and football must conflict once again this season, though the opponent is Tulane, a game students may be more willing to miss.”It just depends on what game it is,” James said. “If it’s Tulane, you can head down. But if it’s an SEC game, then no.”Rehage likely wouldn’t want to miss a conference game either. He helped the Tigers to one of their 10 Southeastern Conference championships in 1986.His hard-hitting style was well-documented, as he piled up “about 11 concussions” during a four-year career.”He was a kamikaze,” said Verge Ausberry, senior associate athletic director. “I used to play kickoff coverage with him, and it was like he was in on every tackle … Steve was one of LSU’s toughest players.”Ausberry said Rehage “always” keeps up with his teammates, and many former players often make trips to the Essence Festival and Voodoo to catch up.”It’s a bond you never lose. I probably get about 150 calls a year from teammates who want tickets to Essence or to Voodoo,” Rehage said.Rehage knows “football is king in Louisiana,” but said he hopes the favorable football schedule will bolster attendance.The Voodoo Experience has only experienced “about three or four cancelations in 10 years,” and fans of all ages can expect a full lineup.—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]